Flexible and sustainable food packaging, the future is now
The Gampack Group designs and produces automatic packaging systems for secondary and end-of-line packaging, primarily in the European and American markets, where the most of of its production is exported. The Italian firm, headquartered in Piacenza, was founded in 2004 and is 70% controlled by the Progressio sgr fund.
by F.S.
Gampack Group packaging lines are used in a wide range of industries, beginning with the food industry. Industrial Meetings | Food and Beverage Technology met with Giovanni Anzani (Commercial Director for Gampack Group) and Marco Guidi (Head of Sales for Gampack Group) to discuss some food industry-specific issues.
What does the food industry expect from packaging system manufacturers?
Gampack Group represents the ideal technological partner in the design and development of innovative packaging solutions. (photo: Gampack Group)
Gampack Group develops and manufactures flexible machines for secondary packaging and end-of-line applications. Investments in R&D make the Gampack Group plants particularly advanced and perfectly suited to the demands of the food industry. Those who work on behalf of third parties frequently must make different batches and require quick format changes and easy-to-use automatic machines.
“The market is looking for efficient and flexible solutions that are also sustainable in terms of energy consumption during use,” Giovanni Anzani explains with an example. “If with a wrap around packing machine we wanted to pack shipping cardboard boxes starting from the flat blank, we could create a closed box similar to an American one. With the exception that instead of starting with a pre-glued American case, we could start with a flat blank and wrap it around the product. With this single flexible solution, both the closed box and different versions can be created, such as, for example, the packing one, referring to the containers used for fruit and vegetables that you see in supermarkets“. “We can make packages traditionally common in western markets, such as those of the two-part display box type, base and top cover; a practical solution: when the display box arrives at the supermarket, the operator removes the cover and can directly display the box with the products. These are just a few examples that can be made with our machines,” Anzani continues. “When we add the robots, we increase the flexibility of the systems by allowing us to place the products in the box in different positions: flat, rather than standing, or on the side“.
Industry 4.0: sustainability and digitisation are the future
The Gampack Group plants are fully automatic and are often integrated with batteries of robots. (photo: Gampack Group)
“The motorizations we use are based on brushless systems with automatic adjustments that make it possible to manage numerous different recipes in a simple way. In addition to being high-performance, our solutions use low-energy motors with regenerative braking systems. With these solutions, the systems we build are among the lowest energy-consuming,” explains Marco Guidi – “Sustainability is important both in secondary packaging and in the end of the line where our patented machines use wrapping systems that are based on the circular economy. Our intelligent packaging solutions, which incorporate industry 4.0 and on-board diagnostics and remote assistance, are present in our machines and provide users with a competitive advantage. The footprint of our machines is a non-secondary point in the economy of a plant: their reduced dimensions allow us to optimize production spaces, which are always limited, saving energy and saving space.”
What materials should be used for packaging machine? Its integration and the footprint of machines on the ground
Those who work on behalf of third parties often have to make different batches and need quick format changeovers and simple-to-use automatic machines. (photo: Gampack Group)
“We typically use cardboard for packaging. We recommend the customer on the most suitable material based on the need for closure, resistance, and the size of the package to be made,” says Marco Guidi. “It is important to consider the capacity of a material to be perfectly processed by machines. This is crucial for achieving a good packaging result and enabling a quick format change. Our experience allows us to meet the needs of our customers. The choice of packaging material is frequently made with marketing and sustainability in mind; in fact, the environmental compatibility of the packaging is important. This is the direction we’re taking today. Our plants are fully automated and quite often integrate robot batteries. One of our systems is typically separated into two phases:
The product arrives naked or with primary packaging in the first phase. With a battery of robots, we pick it up and place it in consumer-ready boxes or in a shipment carton;
The second phase is palletization, which includes a battery of robots automatically stacking the boxes on the pallets with layers of protection between one level and the next, followed by the wrapping of the entire package with film and content coding. These phases are fully automated“.
When a complete line is required: from the start to the end-of-line
Gampack Group packaging lines are used in numerous sectors, starting from the food industry. (photo Gampack Group)
“Gampack Group deals with secondary packaging and palletisation, but not only,” Giovanni Anzani explains. “If there were primary packaging needs, we have the adequate know-how to supply a complete production system, from the process to the palletisation thanks to the Made in Italy partnerships of the Gampack Group. The skills required are numerous, and Gampack Group has the ability to integrate the various phases of a complete plant due to the various cultures represented in the organization and its partners. Once a complete system has been created, it must be supported. For the best production efficiency, a line is equipped with the most advanced tools, from on-board diagnostics to carry out preventive and predictive activities up to remote assistance, together with all those solutions that help the customer reduce plant inefficiencies“.
Gampack Group offers both standard and customized solutions
Gampack Group designs and manufactures flexible machines for secondary packaging and for the end of the line. (photo: Gampack Group).
From the Italian to the international market, Gampack Group is the ideal technological partner in the design and development of innovative packaging solutions. Thanks to continuous investments in research and development, the Piacenza-based Group designs, develops, and manufactures advanced and competitive tailor-made solutions for secondary and end-of-line packaging that are based on Industry 4.0. This technological approach has enabled the Italian company to become a specialist in automation for a variety of industries, including food and beverage, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and much more. The Group provides a wide range of standard solutions, but it also has the expertise to design customized solutions for any industrial requirement, along with excellent after-sales service. Through its global service network, the company takes a customer-centric approach.
